Davidson East financially mismanaged

I believe congratulations are in order to the Davidson Town Board for its skillful handling of the Davidson East property issue.

First, the owner of a large parcel of land (Davidson East) along Sam Furr Road encountered financial difficulty, and his lender took over the property. The property was valuable and was generating tax revenue.

Next, the Town rezoned the property to make it more difficult to develop for its original intended use, reducing the property’s value. However, more importantly in the eyes of the town government, the new zoning was very bicycle and pedestrian friendly, and the property would be linked to the center of town with bike paths. The devaluing of the property was of no import to our town board.

Now the financial institution has had its revenge by entering into a sale with Carolinas Medical so they can build a mental health facility which will be tax exempt.

So, our town government strikes again. Taking taxable property and converting it into non-taxable property but reveling in the fact that it will be bike and pedestrian friendly.

Has anything been done to get Carolinas Medical to pay in lieu of taxes? Has anything been done to generate tax revenue from the profit-making doctor’s office buildings that will be on the property but as they are under the Carolinas Medical umbrella will also be tax exempt? Has the town taken into account the loss in tax revenue from the adjacent residential property that will lose value because they are suddenly located next to a mental hospital? Somehow, I doubt it.

This financial mismanagement is what we have come to expect from the town of Davidson. After all these are the folks who led us off the MI Connection financial cliff and who are bound and determined to lead us into a train wreck with the Red Line.